Today, Rep. Pete Aguilar urged his colleagues in Congress to support commonsense reforms to help alleviate the country’s gun violence epidemic.

“A little over a month ago, my hometown of San Bernardino fell victim to gun violence and was added to a list that no community wants to join. Aurora. Newtown. Chattanooga. Charleston. And the list goes on…and that’s the problem – the list goes on. The only action Congress has taken to address the epidemic of gun violence has been to hold moments of silence in honor of their memory,” said Rep. Aguilar.

He continued, “As a father of two young boys and as San Bernardino’s voice in Congress, I cannot be silent. We owe it our communities from San Bernardino to Newtown to do something. As one of the family members mentioned earlier in the week, ‘Congress has offered their thoughts and prayers, but thoughts and prayers are cheap when you have the power they have.’ While one single law could not have prevented the horrific events in San Bernardino, that doesn’t justify a refusal to take action or to make our communities safer.”

Rep. Aguilar has been an advocate for commonsense reforms to reduce gun violence since he was the Mayor of Redlands, joining the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. Rep. Aguilar also cosponsored the Assault Weapons Ban of 2015, which was introduced last month, and he has consistently called for expanding background checks and implementing measures to prevent guns from falling into the hands of suspected terrorists listed on the no-fly list. His remarks can be viewed in full here.